A former Tulane Green Wave quarterback and his wide receiver are heading to the UFL together.
Tulane Green Wave football has a considerable number of former star players in the NFL. They also have players in the CFL, and as of recent, the UFL. The United Football League (UFL) is a professional American football spring league that was created following the mergers of the XFL and United States Football League (USFL) in March of 2024. The current iteration of the league is comprised of eight teams, including the St. Louis Battlehawks. The Battlehawks selected former Green Wave quarterback Michael Pratt in the Quarterback Draft, along with Brendan Silvers and Ben Woolridge.
On Day Two of the 2026 UFL Draft, St. Louis reunited Pratt with a former teammate, selecting wide receiver Jha’Quan Jackson. Now, as Pratt looks to compete for the starting role, he’ll have a familiar pass catcher. Silvers has spent the past two seasons in St. Louis, but Pratt is a battler. Tulane’s all-time leader in passing touchdowns (90) and total touchdowns (118) was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the seventh round of the 2024 NFL draft. He was released before the season, and signed to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad, where he spent the 2024 season. He was released in August and waived with an injury settlement.
Jackson started his career at Tulane one season before Pratt in 2019, and the two played together through the 2023 season, where Jackson had 26 receptions for 439 yards and four touchdowns in 10 games. Jackson was drafted in the sixth round by the Tennessee Titans, reuniting him with another Green Wave great in running back Tyjae Spears. Jackson appeared the first 12 games of the 2024 season and was primarily a kick returner with 16 kicks returns for 412 yards and 28 punt returns for 215 yards. He had one reception for eight yards. He was waived in August of 2025, briefly signed with the New Orleans Saints on their practice squad, but was waived the next week.
Now, the duo who won a Cotton Bowl together will continue playing and competing alongside one another. Interestingly, Pratt was added to a CFL negotiation list in September but will try to play again now in the UFL, which has recently started to gain momentum sending players to the NFL. This past season, 46 former UFL players landed on opening 53-man rosters, with 28 players coming from the last two seasons. The UFL has a few different rules than the NFL, but the league has begun to adapt some rules from the innovative structure of the UFL – including the new kickoff structure that came from the XFL, which the merged UFL league will return to this season.
Pratt and Jackson spent nearly their entire collegiate careers together, and that relationship should matter as both fight to compete to start in the 2026 spring season for the Battlehawks.